Frenzy
Composite Score: 82.67
Starring: Jon Finch, Barry Foster, Barbara Leigh-Hunt, Anna Massey, Alec McCowen, Vivien Merchant, Billie Whitelaw, Clive Swift, Michael Bates, and Jean Marsh
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Writer: Anthony Shaffer
Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Comedy, Drama
MPAA Rating: R
Box Office: $4,121 worldwide
Why should you Watch This Film?
Frenzy is Alfred Hitchcock’s penultimate and his last film that can truly be considered great. It follows the story of Richard Blaney, a down-on-his-luck Londoner who finds himself wrongfully as the leading suspect in a police investigation around a serial killer who is using neckties to kill his female victims. As the film follows Blaney on his unlucky way, it wanders across genres of romance, dark comedy, and thriller, forming into a crowd-pleasing Hitchcock classic of the 1970s.
Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?
Frenzy’s central story revolves around a serial killer/rapist and the man mistakenly identified as that villain. As such, it features some comparably graphic depictions of victims after they have been killed and even one depiction of the killer in the act (both rape and murder). Though the scene is not overly sexually explicit, it is intensely personal and disturbing and could be triggering for viewers with such events in their past. I’m still on the fence as to the necessity of the scene as well. On the one hand, establishing Blaney’s innocence is necessary to the plot. On the other hand, this could probably have been accomplished without a full depiction of the rape and murder of one of the killer’s victims. Regardless of your stance, the scene definitely will turn off certain viewers of the film.
So wait, why should you Watch This Film?
In a lot of ways, Frenzy is a fairly typical wrong-suspect film, full of unfortunate coincidences, bumbling investigators, and double crosses. What sets this particular entry apart is its ability to embrace the irony of the situation, straying fairly often into the realm of dark comedy. The moments that made me enjoy Frenzy most consistently were the small moments of humor – be they self-deprecating quips, punny one-liners, or even a few ridiculous interactions between the chief inspector and his wife – that keep things relatively light in what is otherwise a fairly dark film. In this, Hitchcock crafts not his classic cerebral suspense film (like Psycho or Spellbound) but instead an irreverent dark comedy that precludes the works of Quentin Tarantino, Martin McDonagh, or even Yorgos Lanthimos.
Additionally, Jon Finch gives a striking performance as the leading man, Richard Blaney. Finch appears harried from start to finish in this one, playing well with Shaffer’s adaptation of Arthur La Bern’s novel and embracing the role of bachelor on the run. His ability to look both disheveled and suave at the same time work wonders for him in the first act as he bounces between being a victim and a suspect. Eventually, his determination comes to a head, outshining his performance in the first two acts by fully committing to the unfair victim bit in the film’s final act. His drive to prove his innocence that eventually morphs into a desire for revenge come across quite naturally in character and to the audience, giving an easy connection point to all who are watching.
Jon Finch’s central performance works well in the darkly comedic thriller that is Frenzy, making it a remarkable accomplishment in Hitchcock’s directorial career and one of the Greatest Films of All Time. The film’s heavier subject matter should be noted as a potential issue for some viewers, and its levity might serve to only frustrate, but it remains an accomplished thriller, nonetheless. This film is currently available to stream on Peacock for a few days if you are interested.
